City of Stone Part One

From GargWiki
Revision as of 07:54, 6 May 2024 by Greg Bishansky (talk | contribs) (→‎Featured Characters and First Appearances)
Jump to: navigation, search
CoS1.JPG

"City of Stone" Part One is the twenty-second televised episode of the series Gargoyles, and the ninth episode of Season 2. It originally aired on September 18, 1995.

Summary

Main Plot

Some of Demona's tragic past is revealed and her centuries-long feud with the Hunter is established, while in the present she uses a spell from the Grimorum Arcanorum to curse most of the Manhattan humans so that they turn to stone at night. Back in the past, after Demona's failed plan with the Captain that led to the Wyvern Massacre, she becomes a rogue gargoyle, and during one encounter while raiding a barn for food, she slashes the young Gillecomgain across the face, permanently scarring him; an act that will haunt her species for centuries to come. Gillecomgain becomes the first Hunter, and as an adult, works for King Duncan, who uses the Hunter reputation and insignia for political gain. He sends Gillecomgain to assassinate his cousin Macbeth's father, Findlaech, in order to ensure Macbeth doesn't become king in his staid. Gillecomgain is successful, but fails to kill the young Macbeth as well when Demona intervenes, and in a rare act of kindness, saves Macbeth and his future wife Gruoch while Gillecomgain gets away to report to his king.

Subplots

The Manhattan Clan intervenes with a hostage situation at a bank where a terrorist and her flunkies are holding Brendan Quarters and Margot Yale captive. The Clan stops the terrorist, but the couple is still afraid of the gargoyles.

The mysterious Weird Sisters, introduced in this episode, are always in the background of both the past and present where they subtly shape the events and manipulate the characters, while their motives remain unclear. They appear to the gargoyles in the bank but are invisible to everyone else in the room. They appear as old gargoyle hags to Demona and her clan in 1020, informing her of the Hunter's imminent attack at Castle Moray and urge her to go there to stop the Hunter and ally with his enemies. Later, they appear as serving wenches working for Duncan.

Demona escapes the Wyvern Massacre by going off to hide under a cliff during the day, as she didn't trust the Captain's promise to protect the clan. At the castle, she spots Goliath and runs away yet again, only to return to find him trapped in his enchanted stone sleep, and witnesses Princess Katharine, Tom, and the Magus cart the gargoyle eggs away. Unable to admit to herself that the tragic happenings are mostly her own fault, she uses the humans as a scapegoat.

Demona has rounded up all the scattered gargoyles in Scotland, such as those from the Wyvern splinter clan, and has become their leader. By 1020 the gargoyles have become a nuisance to humans; raiding their storehouses to steal food and killing the guards. Demona's Second expresses his dislike of the situation and suggests making peace with the humans, to which Demona reacts violently.

The same night Gillecomgain comes to assassinate Findlaech, Bodhe and Gruoch are visiting Castle Moray. Findlaech pledges his loyalty to King Duncan, while Gruoch and Macbeth make a connection while playing chess together.

Duncan rewards Gillecomgain with the stewardship of Moray after he murders Findlaech.

In the present time, Demona makes a deal with David Xanatos, offering to share a spell of prolonged life with him while he allows her to broadcast her spell over Manhattan's television airwaves at PackMedia Studios. Demona instead broadcasts her "stone by night" spell, then ties up Owen Burnett and forces him to watch. Just before sunset, Owen calls Xanatos while he and Fox are on their way to the studios in his helicopter. Both Owen and Fox turn to stone and the helicopter plummets towards the street. Meanwhile, Elisa goes to tell the gargoyles about Demona's broadcast and turns to stone in the Clock Tower.

The Story

Act One

New York City, 1995. Police cars and helicopters surround a Manhattan bank as Elisa Maza rushes to her partner's side. Matt Bluestone wants to send in the swat team, but Elisa talks him down as the hostages have been identified. Matt continues an attempt to negotiate, when the leading terrorist refuses to surrender, declaring her cause is worth any sacrifice and takes a shot at them. Elisa notices the Manhattan Clan approaching the building.

Inside the bank, Brendan and Margot plead to be released; standing behind them are three mysterious young girls. Suddenly Goliath bursts through the wall, disarming one of the terrorists. The leader orders her men to shoot him, but the trio drop down through the ceiling, neutralizing them. The terrorist leader retreats into the vault but is quickly taken down by Goliath, and pleads for her life. The gargoyles release Brendan and Margot, but the two of them are more afraid of the gargoyles than their captors.

Goliath emerges from the vault with the leader in hand as the three children approach him, the raven-haired one saying the cause is everything until her own life is threatened. The golden-haired child reminds Goliath not to forget that every life is precious, lest he become no different than "her". Goliath vows that he'll never be like this terrorist, but the silver-haired girl replies that they weren't talking about this terrorist. At that point, the children just disappear, to the confusion of the gargoyles... but neither Brendan, Margot, or even the terrorists ever saw any children. Goliath ponders who they were talking about...

... Across town, Demona soars across the city, carrying a parchment.

Scotland, 994 A.D., the Captain of the Guard warns Goliath that the Vikings may return and to take all of the Wyvern Clan and make sure they're gone. Angel agrees, but Goliath doesn't want to leave Castle Wyvern unprotected; before deciding that he can scare them off without help. Angel volunteers to go with him, but he leaves her in command. Once the clan leader is out of earshot, Angel turns on the Captain, declaring that this ruins their plan. But the Captain assures her that their plan can still work, he'll signal Hakon and tell him to attack by day. Angel reminds him that they'll be helpless, but the Captain vows to keep the clan safe.

As sunrise approaches, Angel gets nervous and approaches "Othello" and "Desdemona", intending to warn them. But she then spots the Vikings getting into position, and assures them that it's nothing. She then decides that if she can't trust the Captain to keep his word, what's she doing any of this for... but while she's willing to take the chance with her clan's lives, she's not willing to take that same chance with her own. She soars off into the sky, and hides in the caves down below, on the shoreline. As the sun rises, Hakon orders the attack while Angel turns to stone, a tear streaming down her cheek as she turns to stone. As she sleeps, Hakon destroys her clan.

The sun sets, and Angel stares up at the castle, smoke rising from it. Choosing to believe her plan worked, that her clan is now free, she scales the cliff to the castle. But she arrives to dead silence. She wanders through the castle, calling out to her brothers and sisters' before coming across a piece of "Othello's" face, and the crushed and dismembered stone remains of her clan. Angel collapses to her knees and her shriek of grief echoes into the night.

Act Two

Angel sobs over the shattered corpses of her clan when she hears Goliath's approach. Deciding she can't face him yet, she flees once more, already preparing the lie she plans to tell him to cover how she managed to survive the massacre. She returns to the castle hours later and finds the surviving gargoyles stone at night. She spots her mate's stone form and nearly breaks, "What have I..." then regains her composure and finishes that sentence with "What have they done to you!?" The sound of horses neighing draws her attention to the Magus placing the last gargoyle egg into a cart. Tom closes the cart and they, along with Mary and Princess Katharine depart.

Angel scales the tower towards her mate's frozen form, kisses her finger tips and presses them to his lips, then kisses his forehead as another tear streams down her cheek and onto his statue... streaming down his face as she departs the castle, subconsciously sending herself into exile.

An unknown amount of time later, a peasant boy named Gillecomgain approaches the stables, muttering about his chores. The sound of horses in terror and the growl of a gargoyle alert him; he enters the barn, grabbing a pitchfork. He approaches the thief, but Angel emerges from the shadows and slashes him across his face. Gillecomgain covers his face with his hands and collapses to his knees, as she departs with her stolen fruits, eating an apple, to never think about this encounter again.

New York City, 1995. Demona arrives at PackMedia Studios as David Xanatos and Owen Burnett finish setting up their state-of-the-art equipment that can override every broadcast and cable channel in Manhattan. Demona reveals her parchment is a spell stolen from the Grimorum Arcanorum that she can use to steal one minute of life from all who see and hear the spell. Their scheme is to broadcast the spell throughout the day, ending it at sunset, at which time Xanatos will return and they will share that stolen time between them. Before taking his leave, Xanatos reminds Owen to either watch or listen to her, but not both. After Xanatos departs, Owen turns on the camera and counts down. She then begins to chant:

Omnes conspecti, omnes auditi,
in nocte usque ad saxum commutate
dum caelum ardeat

Realizing what's happening, Owen panics but Demona quickly restrains him, tying him to a chair with an iron cable, as he is the "tricky one", to make sure he stays put. Demona watches part of the recording, satisfied with her work before departing. A helpless Owen is left with no choice but to watch.

As Elisa is preparing to leave her loft for work, the broadcast of "Casablanca" that she's watching is interrupted by Demona's broadcast. Elisa is shocked, tries changing the channel but Demona is broadcasting on every channel. She then takes off to warn the gargoyles.

Crowds of people are gathered outside electronic shops watching Demona's broadcast including three fashion models. The golden-haired Phoebe is excited, but the raven-haired Seline is cautious. The silver-haired Luna urges patience; they've waited nine-hundred and seventy-five years, they can wait a little longer.

Scotland, 1020 A.D.. In Dunsinane, several men stand guard outside a granary when the roar of gargoyles echoes towards them. A band of gargoyles descend from the sky and trap the men in a net. The gargoyle leader breaks into the granary with a mace, and her gargoyles start gathering food. One of the humans vows that the Hunter will wipe their kind off the face of the Earth, but the gargoyle leader, an aged Angel, turns towards them with her own vow, not while she lives, before killing them, their own cries of terror echoing through the night.

Back at their cave on Lunfanan Hill, Angel passes out food. As he bites into his loaf of bread, "Second" - exhausted of starving and living like a thief - wonders out loud why they can't just make peace with humanity. But Angel throws him across the cave, not willing to hear any of it. The humans don't want peace, the gargoyles are all that is left of their kind, and the Hunter is after them. Moments after Angel declares that they are the last gargoyles on Earth, three elderly-looking female gargoyles appear, bringing news of the Hunter. Angel welcomes them to stay among her clan. Seline informs Angel that the Hunter is stalking a target at Castle Moray, Luna urges Angel to ally with Clan Moray to defeat the Hunter. But Angel scoffs at the notion; the Hunter is now her prey.

Act Three

At Castle Moray, the visting Gruoch defeats the thane Findlaech, High Steward of Moray, at a game of chess. Findlaech is impressed and compliments her to her father, Bodhe. Bodhe then suggests that Findlaech's son, Macbeth play a game with her. As the two teenagers set up their chessboard, Findlaech and Bodhe discuss, in a resigned manner, that Macbeth's cousin, Duncan, will be the next king. But however things turn out, Findlaech pledges his loyalty by the Sigil of Moray.

As things between Macbeth and Gruoch get a little bit too... welcoming, Bodhe decides it's late and that he'll see Gruoch to her bed. Findlaech laughs and orders Macbeth to escort them to their chambers. Once alone, Findlaech calls to the kitchen lad, but when the door to the dining hall opens, it's not the kitchen lad who enters, but the Hunter - a cloaked man wearing a black mask with three red scars upon its face. Findlaech calls to his guards, but the Hunter advances on him, sword in hand. Findlaech has no choice but to defend himself with a serving tray, but he knows this won't last longer than a few seconds. The Hunter remains silent as Findlaech demands to know who sent him. The fight, if one could call it that, ends up out on the balcony.

Macbeth returns to the dining hall, sees what's happening, and pulls two swords from the wall. The Hunter disarms Findlaech of his dining tray and moves in for the kill. But Macbeth interrupts and throws one of the swords to his father, only for the Hunter to knock it over the side of the balcony, leaving Macbeth no choice but to engage the Hunter in battle. Macbeth manages to hold the Hunter off as Gruoch looks out the window and cries out to him, accidentally giving the Hunter the opening he needs to disarm the lad. Gruoch runs downstairs towards the fight; Bodhe pleads with her not to but remains upstairs.

Findlaech and Macbeth manage to disarm the Hunter; Findlaech takes his sword, but to no avail as the Hunter throws the thane over the side of the balcony to his death, taking the Sigil of Moray. Grief-stricken, Macbeth is easy prey for the Hunter when Angel intervenes, attacking her masked enemy and disarming him. Macbeth picks up the sword, determined to avenge his father but is quickly tossed aside, hanging over the ledge. Gruoch runs to Macbeth's aid, but he is too heavy and she finds herself going over the side with him. However, rather than finish her enemy for good, Angel (feeling a modicum of sympathy) aids the two young nobles... allowing the Hunter to make his escape. Angel is livid at the Hunter's disappearance, but Gruoch thanks her. Angel growls in frustration, disgusted with them and with herself, before taking to the air. Macbeth and Gruoch watch her departure.

At Edinburgh Castle, Prince Duncan paces back and forth in his chambers when the Hunter enters. Duncan asks him for news of his mission, and the Hunter gives him the Sigil of Moray, reporting that Findlaech is dead - as Duncan commanded. When Duncan asks of Macbeth, the Hunter removes his mask, revealing the scarred face of Gillecomgain. Duncan doesn't mind the Hunter's failure to assassinate Macbeth, because without his father, Macbeth won't have the needed support to become king. The prince signals for his three serving ladies (with golden, silver, and raven hair) to enter with food and drink. Duncan rewards Gillecomgain with the High Stewardship of Moray.

New York City, 1995. As Demona's spell continues to be broadcast, a mysterious man dons the mask of the Hunter before turning off his monitors.

At the 23rd Precinct, Matt stops Elisa in the hallway, demanding she help out with complaints about that "weird broadcast"; she brushes him off as she heads for the Clock Tower.

At the Eyrie Building, Xanatos boards his helicopter for PackMedia Studios, piloted by his wife, Fox. As they head there, Fox remarks that Demona's broadcast isn't riveting TV. Xanatos, annoyed, reminds her that he didn't watch it and he warned her not to watch it either. As Fox retorts that she was curious, Xanatos receives a call from a panicked Owen. Demona lied to them, the spell she cast wasn't what she said it was. But before Owen can elaborate further, the sun sets and he turns to stone. So does Fox. Xanatos's helicopter begins to fall out of the sky.

The gargoyles awaken and enter the Clock Tower, finding the stone statue of Elisa Maza waiting for them.

Featured Characters and First Appearances

Gargoyles Humans Oberon's Children Others


Places Objects Magic Media Miscellaneous


Quotes

  • "Get away!"
"Don't come near me!"
"Don't gush all over us, okay? It's kind of embarrassing." - Brendan, Margot and Brooklyn
  • "If you forget what she's forgotten, that every life is precious, then you'll be no different from her."
"I'll never be like this terrorist."
"We were not talking about this terrorist."- Phoebe and Goliath
  • "Oh my love...What have I...What have THEY done to you?" - Demona
  • "I'm tired of starving, and sick of acting like a common thief. I don't see why we just can't make peace with the humans."
"Do you think the humans want peace? We are all that are left of our kind in this world, and the Hunter begrudges each of us our lives." - "Second" and Demona
  • "Know what it feels like to be hunted human, and know that it is the last thing you will ever feel." - Demona
  • "Mr. Xanatos, we have a problem. Demona lied to us; the spell she cast was not what she said it was!" - Owen

Continuity

Once again, a few familiar characters make cameos; Brendan and Margot are the bank robbers' hostages, and the two gargoyles whom Demona almost warns are Othello and Desdemona. There is also a glimpse of Princess Katharine, the Magus, and Tom loading up the eggs in their cart before leaving Castle Wyvern (as a foreshadowing of "Avalon" Part One).

Demona describes Owen, after overpowering him, as "the tricky one". This is another subtle hint to his true identity as Puck, revealed in "The Gathering" Part Two.

While Xanatos' desire for immortality won't officially enter the series until "The Price", his interest in Demona's offer of using stolen minutes from people's lives to expand his life-span is the first hint of that ambition.

Demona's earliest flashbacks crossover with the events of "Awakening: Part One" and "Awakening: Part Two". In particular, we learn more about the pact between Demona and the Captain of the Guard, mentioned in "Awakening: Part Five", and how Demona was able to survive the Wyvern Massacre.

Othello and Desdemona appear in Demona's flashback, prior to their deaths during the Wyvern Massacre. After the Massacre, she can be seen holding up the broken face of Othello, which in "Reawakening" was used to create Coldstone.

The Hunter appears for the first time.

Tidbits

"City of Stone" was originally intended to be a direct-to-video release, but the idea was rejected by Gary Krisel because Goliath and his clan did not have a large enough role in it. Fortunately, the story idea was turned into a Season Two multi-parter rather than abandoned altogether; Gargoyles would have been much poorer without it.

Macbeth's backstory in "City of Stone" differs strongly from the familiar plotline of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, of course, making Macbeth the hero and Duncan the villain. Instead, it bases itself on the Macbeth of real history, whose life-story was heavily distorted by Shakespeare (due to the fact that Shakespeare's own sources had already distorted the story). Also, Shakespeare was writing the play during the reign of James I, who was a descendant of Duncan and Malcolm Canmore - and also believed himself to be a descendant of the fictional Banquo and Fleance - thus making it anything but prudent to tell the actual story. Shakespeare may have also deliberately altered the story to produce a nightmarish atmosphere, chronicling its title character's descent into crime and bloodshed. John Rhys-Davies, who provided the voice of Macbeth in Gargoyles, was initially astonished at this alteration of the familiar play and even accused Greg Weisman of revisionism, but changed his mind when learning that it was based on the actual history of 11th century Scotland and then became very enthusiastic about it. [1]

The Weird Sisters are, of course, the Gargoyles take on the Three Witches, but interpreted as being much more powerful than mere witches. While critical opinion is divided as to whether Shakespeare meant the Witches of his play to be mere human crones practicing black magic, or the goddesses of destiny (which was what his source, Raphael Holinshed, interpreted them as being), Greg definitely saw them as the latter. In fact, he made them into a blend of three different mythical triplets: the Fates, the Furies, and the Graces. Furthermore, each one of the Weird Sisters focuses on a different one of these trios: silver-haired Luna represents Fate, golden-haired Phoebe Grace, and raven-haired Seline Vengeance. The shift in their characterization throughout the series is described by him as due to the shift in which Sister's influence is uppermost at the time.

The individual names of the Weird Sisters are all taken from moon-goddesses in classical mythology. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon, Phoebe a Titaness (the mother of Leto and grandmother of Apollo and Artemis) who was often associated with the moon - particularly in Elizabethan poetry such as Shakespeare's plays, and Selene the Greek goddess of the moon (Artemis took on that role only very late in the development of Greek myth) - and, incidentally, the sister of Helios, who would have a namesake character in "The New Olympians". We do not know as yet, however, exactly what link the Weird Sisters have to the moon, if any.

The Weird Sisters' three different ages (little girls, young women, ancient hags) are based on the concept in modern-day mythological studies of the feminine trinity of Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

Greg had plans to bring back the bank robbers in the spin-off Bad Guys, presumably as adversaries for the Redemption Squad.

Just before Demona breaks in on her signal, Elisa is watching the classic movie Casablanca on television.

Oddly, the petrified Elisa at the end of Part One is facing away from the gargoyles.

Toon Disney modified Goliath's conversation with the Weird Sisters ("I will never be like this terrorist." "We were not talking about this terrorist.") after the September 11 attacks, removing the word "terrorist" from the dialogue. The DVD release contains the original dialogue.

Toon Disney/Disney XD Edits

After Goliath and the Trio have subdued the bank robbers, he gets into a conversation with the Weird Sisters in their child form. During the course of that conversation he originally said "I'll never be like this terrorist!" to which the Sisters replied "We were not talking about this terrorist." The word terrorists in both sentences have been cut out. This was not originally in the Toon Disney edits but appeared after September 11, 2001.

DVD Release

Links


<< Previous Episode: "Vows" Next Episode: "City of Stone" Part Two >>
Retrieved from "https://gargwiki.net/index.php?title=City_of_Stone_Part_One&oldid=41871"